This invention relates in general to spectrometers and, in particular, a refractive-diffractive spectrometer.
Spectrometers or spectrophotometers are widely used devices. They are used in digital printers and printing presses. Hand-held spectrometers are used by graphic designers and imaging departments at newspapers, magazines, and copy shops.
In order to analyze the spectro data from images or objects, light from the images or objects is passed through optical elements to a detector, such as a charged coupled device (“CCD”) array. In order to accurately measure the CIE tristimulus values of light sources, images or objects, it would be desirable to accurately resolve all of the wavelength components in the radiation from the light source. Spectrometers resolve such wavelength components by dispersing them at different angles depending on the wavelength. Unfortunately, up to the present time, spectrometers and spectrophotometers do not disperse the different wavelengths linearly. This means that after being dispersed by the spectrometer into the different wavelength components reaching the CCD array, the dispersion of a particular wavelength component is not proportional to the wavelength of the component. For example, if a prism is used in the spectrometer for dispersing the wavelength components of radiation from a source, the angle of refraction of any wavelength component is not proportional to its wavelength.
Radiation from many light sources can have a large number of spectral lines or wavelength components. Therefore, unless the CCD array has the same number of detectors as the number of wavelength components, at least some of the spectral lines or wavelength components of the light source will be directed to positions along the CCD array that does not fall entirely on any particular detector, but may fall partly on one detector and partly on another detector. Since the dispersion of the wavelength components is nonlinear, it cannot be assumed that a linear interpolation of the outputs of the two detectors will yield an accurate measurement of the intensities of such wavelength components. This causes error in measurement. Therefore, to accurately measure the CIE tristimulus values of light sources of filters that have fine spectral detail, spectrometers of the conventional design require higher spectral resolution. However, high quality spectrometers are expensive.
It is therefore desirable to provide improved spectrometers and spectrophotometers in which the above-described disadvantages are avoided.